Movie Monday 3/5

Well, with so many crash days (weeks?) lately, I missed several Movie Mondays here, though we have watched quite a few movies, trying to keep our spirits up.  So, first a very quick recap of the past few weeks.  I grabbed a bunch of classics to share with the kids (not classic-classics but great movies from the past 25 years or so), plus a few more recent DVDs:

• The Butterfly Effect - one of my all-time favorite movies, about time travel and cause-and-effect
• Rainman - the kids loved it and have been quoting from it nonstop!
• Proof - excellent romantic comedy with emotional depth starring Gweneth Paltrow.
• Secret Window - Johnny Depp in a creepy role based on a Stephen King story; Jamie loved it!
• The Green Lantern - yet another superhero movie - lots of action & special effects - I'm getting sick of them but the boys and my husband enjoyed it.

Plus, Ken and I watched some DVDs on our own recently:

•  Last Chance Harvey - Ken and I enjoyed this mature romantic comedy starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.  Hoffman is a harried jingle-writer whose talents are being replaced by digital media who travels to London for his daughter's wedding.  He feels out of place among his ex-wife and her new husband, to whom his daughter has become close.  Thompson is a single Londonite with a fairly dull life who crosses paths with Hoffman's character.  It was a pleasant, light, enjoyable film (and no heart-pounding suspense for those who can't tolerate it!)
• Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - I was hoping we wouldn't have to remember much from the first Wall Street (1987) to enjoy this sequel, and we didn't!  Michael Douglas reprises his role as greedy Gordon Gekko, leaving prison as the movie starts after serving his time for racketeering and money laundering.  But he's not really the main character in this sequel; that would be Shia LaBoeuf as Jake Moore, an up-and-coming young Wall Street genius who happens to be engaged to Gekko's estranged daughter.  When the 2008 stock market crash and banking failures threaten his livelihood and his dreams, Jake looks for a way out.  We both enjoyed this movie very much, and you don't have to be familiar with the first one to watch it.
• Win Win - My favorite of this group, Win Win is a warm and clever movie about an ordinary family man/small-town lawyer/wrestling coach in dire financial circumstances who finds a legal loophole that allows him to be paid as the guardian for an elderly client.  His plan goes awry, though, when the man's teen grandson appears, with no one to take care of him.  Paul Giamatti is excellent as the main character with newcomer Alex Shaffer as the boy who turns his world upside down.  Plenty of funny moments but also warm and tender.

 Have you seen any good movies lately?